Solid trade for heifers in Welshpool

While it was the bulls selling to 4,000gns and the females ot 2,200gns that topped the price lists, in many ways it was the solid trade for maiden heifers that underpinned the Salers Cattle Society's Welshpool sale.

Placing the day's top bid were the mother-and-son team, Shirley and Jon Sims of Ambergate, Derbyshire, who have Limousin and British Blue cattle and were now looking to use their new Salers bull on heifers to produce "some milky cows".

Their buy was the reserve male champion, the black bull Rigel Oregon Poll, a two-year-old from the Pye family of Yarm, North Yorkshire. By their leading sire, Sagitaire, Oregon is heterozygous for both black and polled characteristics. Oregon is out of the Righel Othello Poll daughter, Rigel Oreithyia Poll.

Key

Minutes earlier Messrs Pye had sold their male and overall pre-sale show champion, Rigel Pelham, another Sagitaire son, at 2,500gns to Barrow Farms of Broseley. Pelham was out of Rigel Pyrrha, a member of one of the herd's key female lines.

Aled Jenkins of Ffostrasol, Llandysul, Ceredigion sold two bulls at 2,000gns apiece. First was Coland Bob, going to J. Vaughan, Llanerfyl, Welshpool; then his Mock Bleddyn sold to W. J. Jenkins, Taliesin, Machynlleth.

Overall female and reserve overall show champion was the cow Felin Cerys, with her heifer calf at foot from the Society's vice-chairman Harri Pritchard and his wife Sioned, of Llangybi, Pwllheli. By Armstrong out of Ukraine, Cerys brought the top female price of 2,200gns, selling to E. Jones of Chwilog, Pwllheli.

While the female trophy was the highlight of Messrs Pritchard's day, it was the strong demand for their string of maiden heifers that really boosted their take-home cheque, with their eight maiden heifers selling from 800gns to 1,000gns and averaging £958. Their top sale was of Felin Enfys, going at 1,000gns to J. James of Borth.

Commercial honours went to father and son, Albert and Peter Williams of West Felton, Oswestry, who have been using Salers with their beef herd for over 10 years. Their winning pen of three made £730 apiece and averaged 365kg, while their reserve pen of two went at £600 apiece and averaged 327kg. Both pens went to T. and A. and R. Tudor of Llanerfyl.

The judge was Tim Roberts of Ledbury, Hereford whose work for Meadow Quality includes buying prime cattle. He also has his own small Salers herd.

He said: "The male champion stood very correctly, had a good top and depth of rib as well as combining breed character with scale and growth. The female champion was very much the same, but did not quite have the presence and power of the bull.

"Both are very much good, commercial, working animals, and the Salers as a breed are very much working commercial animals."

Auctioneer, Glandon Lewis of Norman Lloyd, Welshpool, said: "Overall I believe the sale was very successful. There were six bulls and we sold five, and there was an acceptable trade for the cows and in-calf heifers. However, it was clear that what the crossing farmers were looking for were the maiden heifers which met a strong trade throughout."